Embarcadero Technologies has released RAD Studio XE5, a new version of its flagship product that will let you write C++ and Delphi apps for Android and iOS as well as for Windows and Mac.

The thinking behind the support for mobile devices is that a survey by Embarcadero found that more than 85 percent of Windows developers have been asked to make their apps available for mobile environments, with 83 percent of the requests being for Android support.

Emarcadero inherited much of the developer technology originally created by Borland. RAD Studio XE5 is, according to Embarcadero, the first development tool capable of producing native CPU executable code for Windows, Mac OS, iOS and Android from a single console. It was only six months ago that RAD Studio XE4 with iOS support appeared.

The idea is that you’ll be able to maintain a single code base for a program to work across two or more of the platforms. There’s an increasing need for supporting mobile devices within enterprises as companies encourage business users to BYOD (bring your own device).

The Android and iOS support includes access to common mobile device sensors and services and use of on-device, cloud, or enterprise data. It includes a collection of ready-to-use Android interface controls, and you can connect to SQLite and IBLite databases to create mobile apps with database elements. RAD Studio XE5 has also added REST client support to make it possible to connect to REST based services such as social networks and payment services.

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